The Return to Pain
by The Long Gone Writer
Summary: The sequel to Escaping the Tormentors. She comes back, but when she does, how have things changed? Jeff and OC
1. Facing the Demons

The Return To Pain

Taylor's heart started pounding as the Cameron city limits sign came into view.  It had been 12 months since she'd left and she had underestimated how hard it was going to be to return.

  The last year had been great.  She'd travelled the country, doing some casual work to pay for any costs.  In her time away she'd seen everything: The Space Needle, Central Park, the Grand Canyon.  But throughout the whole trip, something was missing, and Taylor knew exactly what it was.


	2. Home Sweet Home

It was still quite early as Taylor walked up to Jeff's front door. She kept thinking that her stomach was going to explode with anxiety. Trying to keep her breakfast down, she knocked hard on the wooden door, the seconds seeming like hours as she waited for someone to reply.

"Can I help you?" Jeff asked, rubbing his eyes.

Taylor realised he didn't recognise her. Her hair had gone from being chin length to past her shoulders. It was also now jet-black instead of light brown and she'd lost a lot of weight.

"I hope so," she replied, raising her left eyebrow (her signature move).

"Taylor?! Oh my God!" Jeff was now fully alert. "It's been awhile, huh?"

Taylor smiled and nodded. "Too long."

Jeff stepped back and invited her in. She closed the door behind her, and followed him to the kitchen.

"Tell me your story, kid," Jeff said, pouring two glasses of orange juice.

Taylor told him everything about the last year, but Jeff didn't seem to be listening.

"Things seems to be going good with you, work related I mean," she commented.

"Yeah, it's great, hopefully I'm going to be getting some main event opportunities." Talking about wrestling seemed to relax Jeff.

"How are Matt and Amy?" She didn't listen to the answer. This small talk was boring her.

"So, do you have a scar?" Jeff asked, catching her offguard.

Taylor lifted her top, revealing a sun-faded scar, a result of the stabbing a year earlier. "It's faded a bit though."

Jeff ran his fingers across Taylor's side slowly, giving her goosebumps. The sound of the front door opening caused him to pull back quickly.

"Hey Jeffy." Taylor recognised the voice instantly. "I got breakfast."

Spinning on her hell, Taylor saw Steffi walk in the kitchen and drop a brown paper bag on the table.

"Donuts," she announced. Then she saw Taylor.

"Oh my God!! Tay, is that you?"

Steffi ran forward and hugged her sister tightly. Taylor squeezed back, although her mind was racing.

"Steffi lives here," Jeff explained. "After you left I just couldn't leave her with your mother, so I took her in. Your mother seemed to barely notice."

"God, did you think we were together?" Steffi asked, shocked. "He's so old!!"

"Less of that," Jeff laughed. "Steffi, can you leave us to talk for a while?"

Steffi nodded, grabbed a donut and bounced out of the door, leaving Jeff and Taylor alone again.

"Are you going to see her?" He finally asked.

"Yes, but I wanted to see you first," she began. "I've missed you this last year, you have no idea."

"Of course not," Jeff began sarcastically. "I've been fine, didn't miss you a bit. Are you mad?! It's been worse for me. I've been stuck here, surrounded by memories. You got away."

"Don't you understand why I had to leave?" She questioned.

"Of course, but you could've said goodbye instead of leaving me this."

Jeff pulled the letter Taylor had written a year ago out of a drawer and waved it in front of her face. "I thought the woman I love would do more than that."

"You love me?" She whispered, tears filling her eyes. "You mean it?"

Jeff stepped forward and kissed her. "Always have."

"I love you too." Taylor kissed his neck. "Always will."

Unknown to Jeff and Taylor, Steffi was outside the kitchen door, listening to every word.

So, she thought to herself. She thinks she can just waltz back in and take my Jeffy away from me? I'll show her!!


	3. A Place to Stay

It was agreed that Taylor would stay with Jeff and Steffi. Taylor was particularly surprised at how happy her younger sister was. They'd never been that close before she'd left. Taylor dismissed her suspicions as mere paranoia.

Jeff and Taylor were sitting watching TV together when Matt and Amy walked in.

"Hey Jeff, hey... Jeff's friend." Matt's face was filled with confusion.

"Am I that forgettable? I'm offended." Taylor joked.

"Taylor?! Get your ass up here and give me some love."

Taylor jumped off her chair and let Matt hug her, and Amy after him. Next, she answered the dozens of question they had for her and listened to their stories. She soon realised she'd missed a lot in a year. In the midst of the reunion, Taylor noticed Steffi sitting in her chair staring at her. The look on her face sent a chill running up and down Taylor's spine. 


	4. A Sleepless Night

That night Taylor couldn't sleep. She lay in Jeff's arms thinking about the visit to her mother she would be making the next day. She had no clue what she would say or do, or what her mother would do. Taylor hoped this time it wouldn't end up in the Emergency Room.

Steffi puzzled Taylor. On the surface she seemed genuinely pleased to see her older sister (sometimes too pleased) yet several times during the day, she'd caught the young girl giving her looks of pure evil.

"Will you please go to sleep?" Jeff groaned, fed up with her tossing and turning.

Taylor apologised and kissed his arm. An hour later, she was sound asleep.


	5. The Morning After

The next morning, Taylor awoke to the smell of pancakes and coffee. She inhaled deeply, letting her nostrils fill with the pleasant aroma, before standing and dressing. After a few minutes of deliberation, she finally settled on a red summer dress and black sandals. Taking one final glance in the mirror, Taylor beamed happily and floated down the stairs.

"Morning sweetie," Jeff kissed her cheek. "You look great."

Taylor smiled at him and sat down. She watched Steffi help prepare the food. She was wearing a very short denim skirt, a green bikini and green mules.

Maybe a bit adventurous, Taylor thought to herself. But not bad.

Steffi banged a plate down in front of Taylor, making her jump.

"Oops," she shrugged innocently. "Sorry sis."

The three of them sat and ate breakfast, with Steffi and Jeff doing most of the talking. They seemed to love slagging each other off.

It it wasn't those two, Taylor mentally commented. I'd be convinced they were flirting with each other.

  


Once breakfast was finished, Taylor left Steffi and Jeff to face what she'd been avoiding: her mother. She walked slowly down the street to the house that had filled her with dread for so many years.

  


Taylor almost didn't recognise the woman who answered the door. Excessive drinking had taken it's toll, making a year's aging look almost like a decade's.

"Taylor?" Her mother stepped forward and clumsily wrapped her arms around her. There was little else Taylor could do but hug her back.

  


**Meanwhile...**

  


Steffi smiled evilly. Her plan was complete and everything was in place. It was showtime.


	6. A Reunion and Steffi's Letter

Taylor's mother had taken her daughter into the kitchen and made some coffee for them both. Taylor couldn't help but notice the improvement in the place, her mother had obviously spent both time and money making the house look good.

"Well, about 6 months ago, I stopped drinking," her mother beamed with pride. "And now I never drink, not even on special occasions.

"He, got a bit rough with me because of it," Mrs Henderson never used her husband's name. "Whenever I refused a drink, I would get punched or slapped or kicked. Folks at the diner were getting really suspicious, 'cause I would go in with a different bruise everyday. Then about 3 months ago, I finally kicked him out. He's never been back."

This shocked and amazed Taylor. When she'd left, they seemed inseparable from the drink and each other. It did explain how the house could look so nice: time and money spent on booze now went on the house and her mother.

"What about Steffi? I figured that if you were sober, she'd come back."

"I begged her to, but, well...She refused."

This really confused Taylor. "Why?"

"Umm, well, she's got it into her head that her and Jeff are an item and are in love, and will eventually get married. She's losing it, Tay."

What?! A voice in Taylor's head screamed. Yet it made perfect sense. The nastiess and the horrible looks, yet trying to hide it with niceness. The flirting with Jeff and the outfit she was wearing all fit in.

"I can't believe it. She can't really think that."

Mrs Henderson slowly nodded, a sad look on her face. They spoke for a few more minutes, then Taylor left, her head buzzing from all this information. As she was leaving, she assured her mother that they would stay in touch, and be very careful about Steffi.

"She's one twisted little girl, and don't you forget that," her mother advised.

Taylor knew she needed a second opinion on this theory, and she knew exactly who to go to.

  


Steffi pulled one of Taylor's books out of her bag, and took it to the sitting room, where Jeff was messing about on his guitar. Sitting directly across from him, she opened the book, letting the piece of paper she'd planted in it flutter to the ground. 

Act one, scene one, she told herself as she picked it up.

"Oh my god!" She exclaimed as her eyes ran over it.

"What?" Jeff looked up from his guitar.

"Jeff, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to read this, it fell out of the book, and I wanted to know if it was important. Well..." Steffi trailed off and held the paper out to him.

Jeff read it, and as his eyes moved down the page they got rounder.

"Dear Taylor," he read aloud. "I can't believe you're leaving. After 9 months of travelling together, seeing everything, making love under the stars, at the Space Needle, in countless hotels, you are going back to Cameron. Just know that I will always treasure the time we spent together, and the song you dedicated to us the first night you and I were together. "Beautiful" will be a song etched in my heart and mind until I die, and I'll always remember you by it. Love you always, Derek."

Jeff turned the paper over. On the back were all the lyrics to the song Taylor had given to him a year earlier. He sank onto the couch next to Steffi and put his head in his hands.

"I thought that was for us," he whispered as tears fell from his cheeks. "How could she do this to me?"

Steffi smiled and wrapped a comforting arm around him. Give me the Oscar now, she thought to herself.

"Jeff, you weren't to know. It's not you, it's her." She raised his chins so their eyes met. "You are a wonderful human being, and you don't deserve this. This was just, evil."

Jeff smiled through his tears. "How could I be so blind? I've been chasing this girl for a year, and she's been fucking some other guy! Maybe I picked the wrong sister."

Steffi, taking this as her cue, leaned forward and kissed him hard on the lips.

  



	7. A Second Opinion and A Fight

Taylor knocked on Amy's door sharply. It took her a few seconds to get a reply.

"Hey, what can I do for you?" Amy grinned.

"I need to talk to you about Steffi." Taylor stated.

The smile dropped off Amy's face immediately, and she took a slight step back. "Oh, you better come in then."

Amy sat down and cut straight to the chase. "That girl is crazy."

"Does she really think her and Jeff are together."

"Oh, yeah. She told me one day that we would be related, and I said 'Is that because Taylor and Jeff will get back together', and she said that it would be when HER and Jeff got together, because he would soon realise that he loved her and not you."

Taylor felt sick to her stomach. Her own baby sister was running around claiming to be involved with the only man she ever loved. She must've looked ill, because Amy checked to see if she was okay.

"I'm not doing so good, but I need to go confront her."

"Do you need me to come?" Amy rose to her feet, making it almost seem like she was ready for a fight.

"No, this is just going to be a bit of sisterly advice."

  


Taylor walked in the front door and the house seemed empty. She was walking around when she saw Steffi sitting on the back porch, smoking a cigarette. Taking a deep breath, Taylor went straight to her.

"How are you doing?" She asked the younger girl, who didn't reply immediately.

"I'm kind of tired. What are you doing here?"

"Umm, I live here." What a stupid question, she thought to herself.

"Not anymore you don't," Jeff's voice from behind startled her. "I don't ever want to see your face again."

"Jeff, what are you talking about?"

"I found the letter," he yelled at her. "How could you do that to me?"

What letter, she asked herself. I don't know about any letter. Then she saw Steffi with a cruel smile on her face.

"What have you done?" She hissed at Steffi. "You little bitch, what have you done?"

"Don't talk like that to her," Jeff crossed the porch and put her arm around the younger Henderson. "She's the only one I can trust."

"Jeff, don't you see, she's the one that's lying to you, not me. She set me up."

"Get the hell off my land before I call the police," he growled. "Now!!"

Scared about what could happen next, Taylor ran straight out onto the street and down to Amy's house.

  


Back at Amy's, Taylor replayed the whole scene to her friend. Amy didn't know what to do.

"That is so evil. Why would she do something like that?"

"She wanted me out of the way, so she could have Jeff all to herself. It worked." Taylor lit a cigarette. "But I'll win. She is not taking him away from me."

They spoke about what they could do to prove that Steffi was lying to Jeff, and after an hour of ideas, they still had nothing. Amy decided to call Matt and let him in on the situation. Matt came over straight away, and without saying a word to anyone, grabbed Taylor and hugged her with all his strength. Taylor finally cracked, and sobbed onto his shoulder, not caring how silly she looked.

"All we need to do," he told the girls once Taylor has calmed down. "Is get her to confess in front of Jeff. He'll only believe it if it comes from her."

"That's easier said than done, she won't just admit it, she knows she'll lose Jeff."

"Okay, so we have to set it up so she thinks she's only confessing to you, but Jeff hears it."

The three friends put their heads together and slowly came up with a foolproof plan.


	8. The Plan Gets Put Into Action

Matt called up Jeff and asked him to meet him at Amy's.

"Why?"

"To talk about wrestling, you know, a Team Xtreme strategy meeting."

Jeff agreed and hung up.

"You'd better disappear," Matt told Taylor. "You go and see Steffi, and I'll bring him over in 10 minutes."

Taylor nodded and left without saying a word. She didn't need to, the worried look on her face said enough.

  


She didn't bother knocking on the front door, she walked straight in.

"Hey Steffi," she said with a false cheer. "I wanted to apologise for earlier. I was out of line."

"What's going on?" Steffi was instantly on the defensive. "Why are you apologising?"

"Well, it's not your fault you found the letter, it was bound to happen sooner or later. I was stupid to think I could keep it a secret for so long."

Steffi's mind was racing. What was Taylor trying to do? Did she really have a letter? Was Steffi's guess really a truth?

"What are you talking about? What letter?"

Taylor ignored the question, and started to pace up and down. "How high are you right now?"

"Very." Steffi had snorted some Coke as soon as Jeff left the house, and this was contributing to her mental confusion. "Why do you want to know?"

"I was just wondering what it was like. Are you paranoid? I've never had Cocaine before."

"It's great. You lose all confidence problems, and you're the only one that exists. You should try it."

"Maybe I will," Taylor lied, still smiling. "Do you get nosebleeds? Does it burn?"

"Sometimes, but I handle it well. I just make some excuse or another."

"Does Jeff know?"

"No, but it's not his concern. I don't make him do it or anything."

Over Steffi's shoulder, Taylor saw the kitchen door open and close twice: the signal.

"So, how did you know where the letter was?" A swift return to the original topic.

"Look, I don't know what letter you're talking about," Steffi suddenly grinned. "But I could show that one to Jeff as well."

"What do you mean? If you didn't show Jeff my letter to Chester, then what letter did you show him?"

Steffi figured she should tell her sister. She was high, she didn't care what would happen.

"I wrote a letter myself, from some guy to you. And I wrote the lyrics to that piece of shit song you gave to Jeff in it, just for added bite. What about it?"

Taylor couldn't believe it. Steffi knew exactly what to use to hurt Jeff, that song meant so much to him.

"You made up the letter, then I guess that you pretended to accidentally find it and show it to him, and he believed you."

Steffi stood up and applauded. "Someone give her a prize, she's got it." She looked around, as though looking for the man with the prize. "Quite a good plan you have to admit."

Taylor had to admit it was indeed a good plan. "However, little sis, not quite as good as mine." 

She winked at Steffi before crossing the room and opening the kitchen door, exposing Matt and Jeff, who'd been listening the whole time.

"You lying little Coke-head!" Jeff was enraged. He crossed the room and grabbed Steffi roughly by the arm. "How could you do this to me you little whore?"

Steffi tried to wrench her arm out of his grip, but to no avail. "Jeff, no, you don't understand. I was lying to her, I didn't really do that, I made it up."

"Not this time," he growled at her. "It's time I listened to the truth."

He let go of Steffi and dialled the number of the local police station. "Hello, officer, I would like you to come and arrest a drug user who's in my home." Jeff gave his address and dropped the phone back on it's cradle.

"You just sit your ass there and don't say a word until they get here." The look on his face silenced Steffi immediately.

  


  



	9. It's Finally Over

Within 10 minutes, the police had arrived and taken Steffi down to the station. Taylor phoned her mother to let her know what had happened, and was amused at the lack of concern she had for her daughter. She told her she'd keep her informed if anything happened, and hung up.

All the commotion had died down, and Matt left to let Amy know the plan had worked without a hitch, leaving Jeff and Taylor alone. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes before Jeff said anything.

"I'm sorry," he began. "I should've known that you would never..."

Taylor held a finger to his lips, cutting him off midsentence. "You weren't to know, how could you? She was so manipulative of so many people for a long time."

Jeff grabbed her hands and held them in his. His eyes met hers, and Taylor saw a lot of pain, but still a whole lot of love.

"I still should've known, okay? I should've trusted you, but faced with that letter, what was I going to do?"

"Exactly what you did. I understand, I would've done the same thing."

"But I do have a couple of questions. How did you know she would confess?"

"She was dying to tell me, and I knew she would be pretty coked out, she would be as a victory celebration. That made it even easier."

"How did you come up with the plan? It was pretty cool."

"Ask your big brother. I think he saw it in a movie or something." She laughed for the first time that day.

"Okay, one more question," Jeff grinned. "Who the hell is Chester?"

"No one, I made him up," Taylor admitted. "What can I say? That was the first name I thought of."

Jeff pulled her on top of him and kissed her forehead. "Why don't the two of us get in a pizza and watch videos all night?"

Taylor smiled at the man she knew she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. "Sounds good."

  


  



End file.
